Addition by Subtraction : Corona del Mar’s Slingsby Boosts His Results in Cross-Country by Dropping Triathlons

A three-for-one trade can often be a risky transaction. But Corona del Mar standout Brian Slingsby chose that sacrifice and his biggest gamble has paid huge dividends in cross-country this season.

Before the start of his senior year, Slingsby traded in the triathlon gear of goggles and a bicycle helmet to concentrate solely on the roads and trails of high school cross-country this fall.

The promising three-event career he had built since his freshman year would have to wait, at least until he found out just where those roads and trails led.

“This year, he made a full commitment to cross-country,” Sea King Coach Bill Sumner said. “He said, ‘Tell me what you want and I’ll do it.’ ”

The newfound desire for the sport, along with dropping the brutal five-hour a day triathlon regimen, has made Slingsby not only one of Orange County’s top prep runners, but one of the best in the state.

“You can’t come back from training that hard and try to be outstanding and consistent in cross-country,” he said.

Consistency was a liability for Slingsby for the first three years of his high school career, so the decision to “put on hold” his prosperous triathlon agenda was inevitable.

“Every time in the fall, he’d be in great 10,000 (meter) shape, but that was part of the problem,” Sumner said. “He could run 5:30 (per) mile but no faster, and 16:30 wasn’t getting him where he wanted to be. He could run that two times in a row, but, hey, everyone is already done.”

So the remodeling of Slingsby began, beginning with the loss of 20 pounds to his current 150-pound frame, and the formula that Sumner and his athlete used has worked to perfection during his final season.

The Woodbridge Invitational, the first race of the season for Slingsby, was a 15:39 three-mile clocking, 1:25 faster than his time on the same course as a junior.

The success continued at the County Championships, where Slingsby finished sixth, five places ahead of his 1993 finish.

But it was the Sea View League and Southern Section finals where the fruits of his labor really paid off.

After running with the leaders in the first two miles at Irvine Regional Park, Slingsby ran away with the league title in a personal best of 14:49 over three miles.

“Coach said I should win before the race,” Slingsby said. “I wasn’t going in saying this was an easy win. There was just an opportunity and I took it.”

Said Sumner: “That was one of our targets when we started his training this year.”

Success continued at the section preliminaries and finals, with Slingsby posting times in both races, winning the prelims in 15:45 then finishing second in the Division III-A finals in 15:25.

“I didn’t expect him to run under 15:30 as easily as he did,” said Sumner, whose pupil posted the second-fastest county time in the race behind Capistrano Valley senior Adalberto Sanchez (14:55).

Improvement was never more evident in the senior than in the last three weeks, as he improved 10 places from his junior year at the league meet and 1:43 at the section race.

“The past is a past thing and there’s probably reasons and menial things why for all the occurrences, but I just don’t let losing get me down,” Slingsby said.

“The harder he tries, the luckier he gets,” Sumner said. “Brian has tried hard and he’s getting his just due.”

It was just that effort that enabled Slingsby to get to the top of the triathlon circuit.

At the encouragement of Bill Leach, a world-class Master’s triathlete and teacher at the high school, Slingsby “screwed around” with it as a 14-year-old.

With the addition of aerobic and physical strength over the next three years, Slingsby was the first 18-and-under finisher in the World Triathlon Championships in Manchester, England, in August before his junior season.

The race featured the world’s top professional and amateur athletes in the run-swim-bike event, in which Slingsby helped the American contingent win the 20-and-under team title.

Although his immediate plans include collegiate running, the triathlon is not a dead issue. “The (Hawaii) Ironman?” Slingsby said. “I could do it but it would destroy my body.”

For now, he’ll just stick to being Corona del Mar’s Ironman.